A variety of conventional methods are available for printing integrated circuit device structures on substrates. Many of these device structures include nanostructures, microstructures, flexible electronics, and a variety of other patterned structures. Some of these device structures are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,195,733 and 7,521,292 and in US Patent Publication Nos. 2007/0032089, 20080108171 and 2009/0199960, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein by reference.
Progress has also been made in extending the electronic performance capabilities of integrated circuit devices on plastic substrates in order to expand their applicability to a wider range of electronic applications. For example, several new thin film transistor (TFT) designs have emerged that are compatible with processing on plastic substrate materials and exhibit significantly higher device performance characteristics than thin film transistors having amorphous silicon, organic or hybrid organic-inorganic semiconductor elements. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,622,367 to Nuzzo et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 7,557,367 to Rogers et al. disclose methods of forming a wide range of flexible electronic and optoelectronic devices and arrays of devices on substrates containing polymeric materials. The disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,557,367 and 7,622,367 are hereby incorporated herein by reference.